The City of Orlando has announced that a deal with Pulse nightclub has been reached to turn the site into a memorial.
The $2.25 million agreement, $1.65 million higher than the appraised value, will include a 4,500-square foot building occupying a third of an acre.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer stated that the site will remain untouched for now to allow for visitors to mourn.
“There are lots of people that are making a visit to the site as part of their trip, part of their experience of Orlando, so I think 12 to 18 months of leaving it as-is would be appropriate,” the mayor said to the Orlando Sentinel.
“We’re still gathering information. We’re looking around the country for some people that have done something like this before. There are some folks with expertise related to this,” Dyer continued. “[The goal is to] create something to honor the memory of the victims that are deceased, those that were injured, and a testament to the resilience of our community.”
Dyer plans to take the creation of the memorial seriously, with talk of leaving part of the nightclub permanently intact, such as the iconic roadside.
On Friday, Rosario Poma and his wife Barbara – the owners of the club- signed the sales contract. Final say on the deal will take place this week.
In the meantime, mourners will continue to flow to the site to pay their respects and add to the mementos left behind to the victims.
Photo Credit: Aileen Perilla
